Vegetable Almond Medley

Vegetable Almond Medley

Adapted from The Moosewood Cookbook

This recipe calls for three pounds of vegetables. I’ve written the recipe using the combination I chose, but you can create your own combination using your favorites. The real work in this recipe is the chopping, as the cooking doesn’t take very long. Serve with brown rice or quinoa.

1 pound broccoli florets

1 pound cauliflower florets

1/2 pound green cabbage (1/2 medium head), roughly chopped

1/2 pound French green beans, cut into 2-inch lengths

2 cups shredded carrots

2 small yellow onions, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1-1/2 cups chopped toasted almonds, divided

2 cups water

5 tablespoons butter, divided

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon prepared horseradish

Dash or two of Tabasco sauce

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Nonstick cooking spray

2 cups baby spinach leaves

1/2 cup whole wheat panko breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and saute onion and garlic just until translucent. Add the broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage to the skillet and cook over medium-high heat until just crisp-tender. If you are using different vegetables, choose those that take the longest to cook and start with those. My skillet was not big enough to accommodate much more than this, so I removed the cooked vegetables and prepared the second batch next. Add the green beans and carrots to the pan and cook for a few minutes while stirring frequently. When crisp-tender, move them into the bowl with the rest of the vegetables.

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Combine 1 cup of the toasted almonds with the water and puree in a food processor until smooth. In a small saucepan, melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter over low heat. Add the flour while stirring constantly. Add the almond mixture, horseradish, Tabasco, mustard, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes. Sauce will begin to thicken slightly. Remove from heat.

Prepare a large baking dish by coating it with nonstick cooking spray. Spread the spinach leaves along the bottom of the dish. Add the cooked vegetables, then pour the sauce evenly over the top. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of chopped almonds and the panko. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes. Serve.

Quick Tips

1. If you buy the vegetables whole and follow the recipe as is, you will spend a good 45 minutes washing, chopping and prepping before the cooking even begins. To dramatically reduce prep time, you might try buying the veggies already chopped. I used pre-shredded carrots and pre-washed, bagged spinach, so this saved a bit of time.

2. You are essentially creating almond milk by pureeing the toasted almonds with water. Next time I make this, I may just buy (natural, unflavored) almond milk from the store to save a step. I bet that would work well, too.